Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Life in Triple digits!!!

Letter from August 17

This week has been over 100 degrees every day. On Friday it got up to 118. So that was fun.

This week was so awesome though​! I learned a lot about myself and about the Restoration. Since we teach about the Restoration more than any other lesson or topic, I have been studying it more in depth. As in depth as my missionary resources allow me at least. But I have learned so much! Joseph Smith is so cool. He had insane faith. I'm grateful for him and his faith. I am so grateful to have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today. That's one of my favorite things to tell people when introducing ourselves as missionaries. The church and gospel that Jesus Christ organized and established when he was on the earth, 2000 years ago, have been restored or brought back. We have the exact teachings of Jesus Christ, and know the ways that we can follow his example to return to our Heavenly Father and live with our families forever.

One of the most spiritual experiences this week happened during a short lesson with a new investigator. His name is Johnathon. We had showed him the "Because He Lives" video, and testified of Christ. Johnathon told us that he knows the Christ lives. I felt the spirit so strongly, and we knew that he could feel it too. After telling him about what he was feeling, we asked him to be baptized and he said yes. I know that through the Holy Ghost, I can receive revelation for others, and understand more about them.

The past couple weeks, I have been focusing on my weaknesses, and how I can get rid of them. A couple weeks ago, I had told you about how I was slightly scared to talk to people in Spanish. Well, I have been getting over that slowly. Anyways. I know that Heavenly Father gives us trials to test our faith, and to make us stronger. I like to think that he gave us weaknesses for this same reason. When you notice your weaknesses, you can find ways to work out of them. By doing so, you can learn more about yourself. You can strengthen your weaknesses, and your strengths. In Ether 12:27, it says, "27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weaknessthat they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for allmen that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

So turn to our Savior with all your weaknesses. Through faith in Jesus Christ, you will be able to gain strength in all things. I am so grateful for our Savior and for everything he did for us while on the earth, and all that he continues to do for us.

So this week was so awesome. We had a lot of success! We taught 24 lessons this week, when normally we get 16. We also received 10 referrals and picked up 8 new investigators. I have been so exhausted all week, but it's awesome to see the hard work pay off. And of course, we won't keep all 8 of those investigators, but I know that if we continue finding people, then we will find the ones who God has fully prepared. I love meeting new people. It's so fun to start getting to know someone, and then just talking about our Savior and Heavenly Father. You should all try it. The other night, we got complimented for our bravery, just startin conversations about God. The man was surprised that we were willing to do that with just random people on the streets, most of which are much older than we are. It's so awesome. It's also super awesome when people are like.. "ohhh No hablo ingles!" and you're like... "Pues, hablemos espanol!" and then they are like crying because they thought they could get out of talking to us and because we're two little white girls speaking spanish. It's so awesome. And in case you are wondering, the reason why I get to talk to random people off the street, is because we are required to walk an hour and a half every day to find new people to teach. We don't go door to door, but we walk neighborhoods. If anyone is outside, we try to find clues to start a conversation, and tie in their situation with the gospel. It's the best when they're gardening because then you just talk about how you can grow your faith. Or you just navigate the conversation somehow to their family, and talk about how the gospel blesses families. It's a lot harder in spanish than it is in english, but it's so fun. And I like to smile at everyone. I feel like if a smile is all someone receives from a missionary, it will hopefully leave a good impression of latter day saints.So, remember to smile at everyone. Because every member is a missionary.